But the Lions rallied and led 22-13 when captain Sam Warburton capped a strong comeback from injury with a try in 53rd minute, wading through tackles from a ruck 10 meters out.
"There was a string of four penalties in that second half when we were in decent territory, but we gave away four penalties in a row", Lions captain Warburton said.
Gatland and the Lions continue to remain coy over the chances of Sexton and Owen Farrell forming a playmaking duo at fly-half and inside centre for the first Test on June 24.
The Cork native has shot from outside the Ireland matchday 23 to Six Nations finalé hero, Munster talisman and member of the 2017 Lions panel.
Gatland has previously played down the possibility of Farrell and Sexton operating in the same backline.
"We scored a couple of nice tries and probably missed a couple", Gatland said.
"But the group of guys we have got are hugely motivated for what's around the corner".
"He's on the bench and he's covering midfield options, so we could end up with the 10/12 combination".
'But he'll get some game time and some opportunity to keep improving his match fitness because he hasn't had a lot of rugby in recent weeks'.
All Blacks Akira Ioane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow, Nehe Milner-Skudder and Rieko Ioane are all named in the starting 15 for the home side.
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In this way, Lionel Messi has been found guilty of fraud, and recently Cristiano Ronaldo accused by prosecutors of evading €14.7m. Ronaldo , who is now facing four charges of tax fraud in Spain , was reported to want to leave Real Madrid and Spain .
Replacements: Hikawera Elliot, Chris Eves, Marcel Renata, Leighton Price, Kara Pryor, Bryn Hall, Ihaia West, Rob Thompson.
LIONS: Leigh Halfpenny (Wales); Anthony Watson (England), Jonathan Davies (Wales), Beo Te'o (England), George North (Wales); Jonathan Sexton, Conor Murray (both Ireland); Mako Vunipola, Jamie George (both England), Tadhg Furlong (Ireland), Maro Itoje, George Kruis (both England), Peter O'Mahony (capt, Ireland), Sean O'Brien (Ireland), Taulupe Faletau (Wales).
Replacements: K Owens, J McGrath, K Sinckler, I Henderson, S Warburton, G Laidlaw, O Farrell, E Daly.
Warburton returned from a minor ankle injury to play over an hour in the midweek defeat by the Highlanders in Dunedin.
'But this tour isn't about Sam Warburton, it's about putting the squad first.
Gatland says a fixture against the Maori is one of the "unique spectacles in world rugby".
In a powerful backline, winger Nehe Milner-Skudder has a chance to play himself back into the All Blacks after nearly 16 months out with a shoulder injury and a broken foot.
Though he was named to start against New Zealand Maori on Saturday, it was thought Farrell, who was on the bench, would get the nod for the first Test.
Cooper said he's happy for his players to be pressing for greater things, and that he's been in contact with All Blacks coach Steve Hansen, not talking about the Maori's game plan, but working together on how to integrate his three squad members in. But the Lions were really tough.
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